The first Swedish settlers came to the area about
1855. They
heard there was good farmland to be had. They camped in Red
Wing for
several weeks, eventually leaving their wives and children
there
while they ventured on the buffalo trails to find the land
in
"Kallornas Lustgard" (Spring Garden) where they staked
their pre-emption claims. In the fall of 1855 the men
brought their
families to the new land.

In the Spring of 1856 two boys were born in the
new settlement.
Word had reached the settlers that a young pastor, Eric
Norelius had
come to the Vasa settlement. On July 6, 1856 an oxcart full
of
people traveled toward Vasa to have the boys baptized. They
encouraged Pastor Norelius to visit them in the new Spring
Garden
settlement. He made his first visit July 17, 1856 walking
about 9
miles through unbroken wilderness to find the settlement.
Thus began
regular visits over the next two years by Pastor Norelius
between
the Vasa and Spring Garden settlements.

Pastor Norelius arranged for Pastor
Peter Beckman to come from
Stockholm, Wisconsin to minister to the newly formed church.
Minnesota had become a state May 11, 1858 and Leon Township
had been
organized and held its first election on July 5, 1858 with
50 votes
polled. The organization of the Spring Garden church stands
out with
these other historical events. Ever since that day, the
church has
stood as God's lighthouse, sending forth the gospel light
into
hearts of the people.

"On July 17, 1856, I made my first
visit to
Spring Garden," says Norelius. It was no easy task to find
the
place. I walked about 9 miles on foot from the present White
Rock to
Carl Haggstrom's old place by the stone schoolhouse west of
the
woods. it was an unknown, unbroken wilderness and one had to
make
ones way piecemeal through thorny brush and thickets,
wherein one
was lucky if one chanced to get through with whole clothes,
which
was not always the case. I especially remember one time my
clothes
were so miserably torn that it required a heap of pins to
fasten the
rags together before I could present myself before people.
This way
or path I walked many times during the summer and even the
following
year, but it was worse in rainy weather when I was soaked to
the
skin, when going through the thickets and long grass. It
happened
one time I stood preaching, that water dripped from my
clothes and
there was a pool of water by my feet. It was possible to
this before
my health broke down completely.

The First Cabin of Worship

The first house of worship was Carl
Haggstrom's
little log cabin, which had cost $2.50 to build. Later Carl
built
another log house, nearby, at the place where Ephraim
Haggstrom now
lives. This was much larger and here services continued to
be held,
together with other homes in the settlement. The first
little log
house became the home for Per Jonson and years later was
used for a
barn. This is destroyed, but it is a real historic treasure
to know
that Haggstrom's larger house built over 100 years ago and
used for
worship services for the settlement is still standing at the
Ephraim
Haggstrom place and is a historic memorial landmark for us
at Spring
Garden today. NOTE: The cabin has been recently dismantled,
marked
and cleaned, and moved and reassembled near the church in
preparation for the 150th anniversary July 2008)

A Memorable Communion Service

Rev. Norelius said, "One episode
which
characterized the pioneer life, even from the point of view
of the
church, I want to tell: One Sunday afternoon, a very warm
day,
I had pressed through the brush and thickets to conduct
services and
communion in spring Garden. In each end of the house was a
little
window which was removed to let in air. By the one window a
board
had been laid to serve as a communion table, on which was
placed a
plate of pieces of ordinary bread and a bottle of communion
wine.
When I had begun to give my communion address, a hen flew in
through
the window and spread the bread on the floor with a
miserable cackling
as if possessed by the evil one. How disturbing it was one
can only
imagine. When the hen had been thrown out and all was in
order again
I continued giving my address and the same spectacle was
repeated.
But this time it was so much worse in that the wine bottle
too fell
on the floor, but didn't break. This made for caution and a
man was
stationed by the window to stand guard at the window
opening. If something
like that had happened in a church, at a late time, tit
would be
considered sacrilegious, but then one thought nothing of it,
as it
could easily happen under such circumstances. A conference
meeting
was held in this very house August 26-27, 1859, when the
whole
Minnesota Conference delegation was brought to the meeting
in a
wagon box from Red Wing.

The History of The Spring Garden's Women's
Group
1893- 1958

The first women's organization of
the Spring
Garden Lutheran Church was the young Ladies' Sewing Society,
organized at Rev. Frodeen's home on February 21, 1893.
Twenty-five
young women joined the society the first year. They met in
the homes
every other Tuesday afternoon at one o'clock. the first
officers
were Hattie miller, president, and Thilda young, secretary,
who were
elected to serve for two months. The afternoon was spent
planning
and sewing articles which were sold at an auction on
Midsummer Day.
The proceeds were used to support missions and charities.
Each
member paid $1.00 and the officers had charge of the money
and
bought most of the materials. The second and third year
sales were
held at Midsummer and in December. The ambitious young women
worked
hard for three years until December 3, 1895, when the
society met
for the last time.

the second society was organized at
the home of J.P.
Gustafson in 1901. Only a few women attended the first
meeting but
the membership grew as the years. passed. This society was
called
the Willing Workers and continued in much the same manner as
the
first one. An annual auction was held in the late fall. They
worked
for missions, charities and improvement in the church and
parsonage.
The first dishes were purchased in 1906 and five dozen
chairs in
1907. Roll call was taken and each ember paid ten cents
whether
present or not.

In 1907 officers were elected to
serve for three months
and not until 1915 did they serve for one year. In 1914 it
was decided
that each member donate one or more articles. One dollar was
paid
for membership. This method of donating articles proved to
be more
practical and was used until 1934 when the auction was
discontinued
and a Thank Offering was taken.

1928 marked the introduction of
short programs at
the meetings. A new kitchen in the church basement was built
in
1935. In its early history the Willing Workers mainly
supported
missions. The society has continued giving to missions and
charities, but has donated a large part of its income to
needed
improvements of the church property.